Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Deep Thoughts ( Wednesday Noon Insight Edition): Crime Does Pay (Corporate Crime, That Is….)




From The Economist: It has been a bumper summer for corporate fines and settlements. In the past three months alone firms in Britain and America have agreed to pay out over $10 billion because of wrongdoing. But the economics of crime suggests that fines imposed by regulators may need to rise still further if they are to offset the rewards from lawbreaking.

The latest allegations of bad behaviour are a familiar brew of overcharging, mis-selling and price-fixing. Banks have been the worst offenders. Barclays was fined $450m for its part in a price-fixing scandal; others will follow. HSBC is expected to receive a hefty fine for allegedly flouting money-laundering regulations. Two pharmaceuticals firms, GlaxoSmithKline and Abbott Laboratories, have been stung for illegal marketing.  That some firms behave badly is nothing new, but the response of the authorities has changed recently….

Wait…wait…there is more.  Go to http://www.economist.com/node/21559315

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